Yes. Parts of the Confederacy did.
They seceded, 11 of 13 to be exact. They said they were no longer part of "The United States" and they continued with their way of life which included the keeping of slaves and slave labor.
They didn't think it was wrong when they were part of it and sure as heck didn't think it wrong when they had seceded.
At least until Lincoln came out with his Emancipation Proclamation. And even then some slave owners- most plantations were destroyed by the Civil War- did not follow it. A few did though
I asked my cousin in highschool he said the Illuminati idk if that is the word you are looking for sry if that doesn't help
I am not sure, but I believe it is the Qin Dynasty
Since he lived in a theocratic government, he was tried by the Holy Office for teaching that the Earth revolves around the Sun which was deemed a heretic by the Catholic Church.
Because the were being persecuted, and they believed that it was Zion.
